Understanding the Level of Students' Reading Comprehension Ability

Reading comprehension of texts is a basic competency in the Indonesian Subject Curriculum. The observation results show that reading comprehension is still low, especially reading comprehension of the meaning of the text and the context of a text. From these problems, it is necessary to conduct research on the level of reading comprehension of grade VII students of SMP Negeri 06, Rejang Lebong. This research aimed at describing the level of reading comprehension ability and the causes of students' misunderstanding in grade VII of SMP Negeri 06 Rejang Lebong on reading text material. This research belongs to mixed method design. The subjects of this study were 28 students of class VII from SMP Negeri 06, Rejang Lebong. Data were collected using tests, observation, interviews, and documentation. Data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Data validity test is done by member checking, which is assisted by language validator and triangulation. The results showed that students were not accustomed to reading texts and there were still those who were not fluent in reading.